Job 21:1-34 GNT

[1] Listen to what I am saying; that is all the comfort I ask from you. [3] Give me a chance to speak and then, when I am through, sneer if you like. [4] My quarrel is not with mortals; I have good reason to be impatient. [5] Look at me. Isn't that enough to make you stare in shocked silence? [6] When I think of what has happened to me, I am stunned, and I tremble and shake. [7] Why does God let evil people live, let them grow old and prosper? [8] They have children and grandchildren, and live to watch them all grow up. [9] God does not bring disaster on their homes; they never have to live in terror. [10] Yes, all their cattle breed and give birth without trouble. [11] Their children run and play like lambs [12] and dance to the music of harps and flutes. [13] They live out their lives in peace and quietly die without suffering. [14] The wicked tell God to leave them alone; they don't want to know his will for their lives. [15] They think there is no need to serve God nor any advantage in praying to him. [16] They claim they succeed by their own strength, but their way of thinking I can't accept. [17] Was a wicked person's light ever put out? Did one of them ever meet with disaster? Did God ever punish the wicked in anger [18] and blow them away like straw in the wind, or like dust carried away in a storm? [19] You claim God punishes a child for the sins of his father. No! Let God punish the sinners themselves; let him show that he does it because of their sins. [20] Let sinners bear their own punishment; let them feel the wrath of Almighty God. [21] When our lives are over, do we really care whether our children are happy? [22] Can anyone teach God, who judges even those in high places? [23] Some people stay healthy till the day they die; they die happy and at ease, their bodies well-nourished. [25] Others have no happiness at all; they live and die with bitter hearts. [26] But all alike die and are buried; they all are covered with worms. [27] I know what spiteful thoughts you have. [28] You ask, "Where are the homes of great people now, those who practiced evil?" [29] Haven't you talked with people who travel? Don't you know the reports they bring back? [30] On the day God is angry and punishes, it is the wicked who are always spared. [31] There is no one to accuse the wicked or pay them back for all they have done. [32] When they are carried to the graveyard, to their well-guarded tombs, [33] thousands join the funeral procession, and even the earth lies gently on their bodies. [34] And you! You try to comfort me with nonsense! Every answer you give is a lie!